Stereotype-plate holder.



PATENTED JAN. 9, 1906.

G. P. ROCKSTROH. STEREOTYPE PLATE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED OOT. 28,1903.

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PATENTED JAN. 9, 1906.

G. F. ROOKSTROH. STBREOTYPE PLATE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 28,1903.

No. 809,399; PATENTBD JAN. 9, 1906.

G. F. ROGKSTROH.

STEREOTYPE PLATE HOLDER.

APPLIOATION I'ILED OCT. 2a. 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. ROCKSTROH, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ROCKSTROH MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

S TEREOTYPE-PLATE HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1906.

To (ti/Z whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. RooK- STROH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stereotype-Plate Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved holder for stereotype, electrotype, or other printing plates, by which said plates, whether of large or small size, are securely held in position for printing.

The invention consists of a printing-plate holder comprising a block having a series of parallel crossshaped grooves or slots in its upper surface at right angles with the sides of the block and being separated from each other by spaces corresponding to the point system of type-space measurement and in providing detachable clamps therefor and each of which having an automatic lockingtumbler and lateral screw-plate adjusting device and of such other novel construction as will be more fully described in the following specification and more specifically pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a plate-holder that by its aid a person can quickly and securely attach a stereotype or similar plate or plates in any position thereon and have the means of obtaining therefor the greatest accuracy of lateral adjustment, while the alinement of the plate or plates can be determined by the right-angled position of the slots with reference to the edges of the holder and apply and utilize the point system of type measurement in connection therewith, and such other objects as will be more fully explained in the following specification, which is to be taken together with the accompanying drawings, and in which similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

This invention comprises improvements made on a similar invention of mine in printing-plate holders, for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted to me on January 26, 1904, No. 750,395, and to which reference is hereby made.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a top or plan view of a plate-holder made in sections with plates secured thereto and being made according to my improvement. Fig. 2 represents a top view of the holder in two sections with a plate secured thereto by means of the clamp devices. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 2, shown partly in section that the application of the clamps may be more clearly seen and understood. Fig. 4 is an end view of Fig. 2, but with the plate and clamp mechanism removed therefrom. Fig. 5 shows a top view of a holder with a plate thereon and being provided with a side margin-bar and an end margin-bar and clamps. Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9, respectively, are side, top, end, and front views of the clamp mechanism and in enlarged proportions for purposes of clearness of illustration. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the hand rack-bar by means of which the clamp-screw mechanism is operated. Fig. 11 represents a side elevation of a double clamp device provided with an adjusting-screw having a right-handed thread for one of the clamps, with its corresponding tumbler, and a left-handed thread for the other, and the faces of the clamps being of limited proportions and adapted to hold grooved edge plates to the'holder. Fig. 12 shows a vertical sectional elevation of a part of a curved plate-holder provided with my improved clamp device and spacers and with plates as when mounted upon a cylinder of a printing-press.

In the drawings, A A are sections of the plate-holder having the vertical grooves or slots A A twelve points or one pica wide and forty-eight points or four picas between centers opening in from the top A of the holder and having side grooves A A through their entire length.

B B represent plates in position upon the holder and secured thereto by the clamps C C, the edges B B of which are beveled in the usual manner and the lips O C of the clamps O O being corespondingly shaped to fit down upon and make contact with the edges of the plates. The lower portion C of each clamp O is threaded laterally to fit the screw'D, having the pinion D secured thereto (or made integral therewith) near the head D The screw D has also a threaded connection with the tumbler E and is provided with a washer F and journal-box F and all these parts being made of such dimensions as will admit of the whole device being dropped freely into the slots A A or removable therefrom, as may be desired. A rack-bar G, provided with a handle G, meshes with pinions D D of the clamp-screws D D and is the ordinary means provided to turn the screws when they are in proper position in the slots of the holder and the plates are to be secured thereto or adjusted thereon or removed therefrom, as may be desired. The clamp C may have a swivel connection with the threaded portion C as shown in Figs. 1 and 7, when a plate is to be set at an angle on the holder, as shown by plate B in Fig. 1. The clamp may also be made of any desired length and have two or more screws connected thereto, as shown by C in Fig. 1.

When the clamp mechanism is attached to the holder, the upper edges E E of the tumbler E are in registering position with the upper surfaces of the grooves A A of the slots A A and so arranged as to fall into either of said side grooves, according as the screw D may be turned in the operation of adjusting the clamp mechanism aganst the plate and as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 9. When the tumbler E is in such a position, the screw D and the clamp E are prevented from rising up out of the clamp-slot, while the lip C of the clamp C will draw down the plate upon the top of the holder, and thus hold it firmly thereon. The washer F between the pinion D and the head D of the screw D, which is larger than the pinion and may be of any desired shape, is intended to take the back thrust of the screw and provide a smooth seat for the pinion to work agianst and to keep the pinion clear of the bottom of the slot. The journal-box F, in which the head of the screw D is loosely fitted, also supports the head D in position in the slot and takes the lateral thrust of the rack-bar when the screw is being rotated. Notches E E in the upper surface of the tumbler E are provided that the tumbler may be moved into a vertical position by the aid of a tool of any kind suitable for the purpose that the Whole clamp mechanism may be removed from the slot in the holder in which it is placed whenever it is necessary to do this. This removal is facilitated by the use of the lifter E the end E of which fits into the hole E in the tumbler E and as shown in Fig. 3. The tumbler E acts as a detent for the clamp by engaging in either of the lateral grooves of the main vertical slot in which the device is placed. The rotation of the screw D, by means of which the tumbler E is connected with the clamp C, moves the tumbler into one or the other of the lateral grooves A A in the vertical slot, according to the direction in which the screw may be turned, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 9. overlapping portions of the clamp and tumbler threaded to fit the screw, as seen in Fig. 6, all these parts become firmly bound to- By having the,

gether when in use, thereby preventing any possible rotation of the screw that might occur through vibration or other movement of a printing-press while in operation. The tumbler can be made in any shape that will provide a shoulder or abutting surface that will register and engage with corresponding shoulders or surfaces that may be provided in the vertical slots in the plateholder, or so that it will otherwise impinge and bind against a side or sides of the vertical slots, and thus secure the clamp to the holder.

When the clamp device is used with a curved plate-holder, the under surface of the clamp and the upper surface of the tumbler can be made curved, so as to bring their points of bearing against'the bottom of the' clamp-slot and the upper surface of the side groove, respectively, to suit the change of position of the screw as it is rotated therein and as the clamp and tumbler move along the screw to and from its head, according to the dimensions of the plates that are clamped on the plate-holder and as seen in Fig. 12. The head of the screw and the washer can be made with their external surfaces convex to also allow the screw to swing up and down in the slot and for the same reason. The bottom of the clamp by resting upon the bottom of the slot supports a downward thrust against the screw when the clamp is screwed against a plate ,and this applies to the clamp whether it is used on a fiat or acurved plate.

The tumbler and clamp may also be con nected together in any manner in which the tumbler will detachably bind the clamp in a slot to the holder, as I do not limit the scope of my invention in this respect to the particular form of construction of tumbler mechanism herein shown and described.

The clamp devices can only be inserted into the clamp-slots at the points of intersection of the latter with each other in the holder, as the transverse plane of the pinions D D and washers F F with reference tothe screws D D necessitates this method of their manipulation and adjustment to be operative and secure the clamps to the holder.

The side margin bar or stop H (shown in position in the holder in Fig. 5) takes the side thrust of the opposite clamps upon the plate held between them, and the end stop I answers a similar purpose for its opposing clamp. The construction and purposes of these stop devices are more fully described in Letters Patent N 0. 750,395, to which reference is made.

The holder may be made of metal or any other suitable material and all the parts made integral or secured together, as may be found most desirable. The edges of the sections of the holder are provided with removable dowelpins K K, which fit into corresponding holes K K in the holder, and thus lock the sections together, so that the slots Will register with one another in the sections thus united. The frame L has mortise-and-tenon.

joints at the corners and in each of which is provided a screw-pin L to secure the parts together and which can be understood without further explanation. (See Fig. 1.) The surfaces of the squares between the slots of the holder may be ruled, as shown in Fig. 5 and in .which the lines are supposed to be twelve points or one pica apart. By substituting a screw for the rivet, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 6, a lateral adjustment may be given to the point N equal to the sweep it can make around the screw. The point N, which is secured to the support N and which is substituted for the clamp shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 9, represents a form of construction of an improved adjustable folder point mechanism. The right and left hand clamp-screws may be designated by having the clamps differently colored, shaped, or marked to distinguish them at a glance when being used. Sometimes it is advantageous to have two clamps mounted upon the same adjusting-screw, having right-handed and left-handed threaded portions that will move to and from each other while holding a plate at a fixed point with reference to one of the slots in the holder in which the pinion of the screw is inserted. This result can be attained by means of the double clamp mechanism shown in Fig. 11 and which is otherwise constructed as the clamp mechanism al ready described and which can be understood without further explanation.

0 represents a: space-bar or spacer provided with tongues O 0, extending from its under surface andV-shaped in section, so as to correspond with the shape of the clampslots in the plate-holder and into which they register and loosely fit when the spacers are used with the holder, as seen in Figs. 1 and 12. These spacers may be of any desired length or thickness and may be limited toa single piece or made in two sections and expansible, as shown in the form 0 Their construction and utility are more fully described in another application of mine for Letters Patent for an improvement in printing-plate holders filed December 21, 1903, Serial No. 186,143, to which reference is hereby made.

In Fig. 12 the block A is shown as curved to fit upon the surface of the periphery S of the cylinder S of a printingpress, a portion of which is shown in section, together with a portion of a holder block and with two curved plates mounted upon the latter. In thisview side elevations of two expansible spacers curved to correspond with the curvature of the plates and holder are shown, and between the'plates an end view of an expansible spacer is shown in position between the two plates and the portions within the holder being indicated by dotted lines. A clamp device is also shown in position in the holder and as holding one of the plates to the holder by its outer (right-hand) edge. There is no difference in the construction of any of these devices from that of any of the other similar devices, as already described, except in the curvature of their respective surfaces, where the principle of curvature necessitates a corresponding modification of shape. The spacers have the principle. of curvature applied only to such portions thereof as are above the surface of the holder, and the clamp device requires only a curvature of the external surfaces of the pinion head and washer of the screw and the upper surface of the tumbler and lower surface of the clamp and all of a convex curvature, as indicated in this figure, (Fig. 12.)

The operation of my improved holder will now be explained. When it is necessary to mount a plate upon the holder, the requisite number of clamps are placed in the slots of the holder all complete and together, as seen in Figs. 6,7, 8, and 9, and in an approximately proper distance apart to take the plates and as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The

plate is then placed upon the holder between the clamps, and the latter are screwed firmly against the edges of the plate by turningtheir respective pinions-by means of the hand rack-bar G, which is moved in the proper direction in the slot and over the pinion or pinions of the screw or screwsto be thus adj usted. The pitch-line of the hand rack-bar G is below the top surface of the holder on account of the diameter of the pinions being of the requisite dimensions to admit of this, and this causes the slots to act as a guide for the hand rack-bar to move in and over any pinion or pinions in the same slot. This arrangement of the parts enables a printer to close or open the clamps with reference to the plate very quickly, and when the margin between the plates is close or narrow and by making the screws with right-hand and left-hand threads for opposite plates, respectively, the release of a number of plates can be effected very quickly with a few quick movements of the hand rack-bar. The slots being at right angles with the edges of the holder enables the printer to set the plates in accurate and correct alinement thereon and while it is in position upon the bed of a printing-press and which is of great advantage. The slots are arranged in the holder so that they register corresponding to what is known as the point system in the printing trade and the advantages of which in adjusting the plates upon a holder are correspondingly very great. The point system is a standard of measurement of the bodies of type, one point being equal to .0138 of an inch, nonpareil type measuring six points, pica measuring twelve points, and so on. Pica type is the standard unit of measurement in the ITO - K with reference to the holes K K in the printing trade for the thickness and length of leads, rules, &c.as, for instance, a six-topica lead, a page twenty-four picas wide, and the like. The slots in the holder are one pica in width and four picas (or forty-eight points) from center to center, thus leaving the intervening squares three picas or about a halfinch in size. If a plate is to be set on the holder at. an oblique angle with the edges of the holder, as shown at B in Fig. 1, the swivel form of construction of the clamp (shown in Fig. 6) will allow the clamp to adjust itself against the edge of the plate accordingly and as several are shown as securing the plate B in the holder in Fig. 1. If the side or end stops H I are to be used; they are inserted in the slots, and the plate is laid upon the holder and against them near their upper edges, as seen in Fig. 5, and the portions projecting under the plate, as indicated by the dotted lines, will cause them to be held down in position by the plate while the stops hold the plate in position thereon on account of the opposite edges of the plate being held down upon the holder and forced against the stops. The tumbler E can be brought into a vertical position preparatory to removing the clamp device from the holder by moving it accordingly with a penknife, screw-driver, or similar tool, which can be inserted in the notches E E of the tumbler E, provided for the purpose, and also by means of the lifter E, as already described. When a large plate is to be mounted upon a holder, the latter can be made up from sections into corresponding size, and the slots will come together in proper alinement on account of the position of the dowel-pins K sections and which are located accordingly. When the plates are arranged closely together-that is, with small margin between them, as seen in the upper portions of Fig. 1 all of the intervening clamp-screws can be turned so as to release or bind the plates with one movement of the hand rack-bar, providing the screws facing in opposite directions are made with right-hand and left-hand threads, respectively. The delicacy and accuracy obtained in moving the clamps, which is provided through the screws with their respective pinions, while at the same time giving a positive and secure grip upon the plate with the holder, is efl'ected by the use of the hand rack-bar, which latter tool is not new, i

but is now in general use by printers. When the plates are to be placed so closely together that the spaces between them are too small to admit of the use of the clamp devices thereat, the spacers can be used instead, as shown in Figs. 1 and 12, and thus admit of the plates being set at any close proximity together and so as to make contact with each other, as seen in Fig. 1, if desired. As these spacers can be of any desired thickness or length and either solid or expansible and of plain or clamp-shaped construction and can be used with or without the regular clamp devices, as already described, it can be seen that plates can be spaced or clamped as closely together in printing therefrom as may be desired.

In the printing or lithographing of labels or like work these clamps, spacers, and other devices are especially adaptable, as close margins and accurate register and adjustment of the plates are absolutely necessary in this class of work and to meet the requirements of which these improved devices have been particularly designed.

The folding point device, which can be attached to the holder at any suitable point thereon, is used to mark the location of the folds made in the paper after printing and to aid the folder in subsequently performing that operation, as can be understood without further explanation.

The advantages of my improved holder arethat on account of its sectional construction it can be made of any dimensions or shape to suit the size or position in which the plate or plates are to be mounted thereon and that it can be readily moved and cleaned; that the construction of the clamps admits of their being adjusted to any position on the holder by simplyinserting them into the slots from the top of the holder and with their automatic tumbler-locking action gives their fine, accurate, and positive lateral adjustment, and which can be accurately adjusted in their proper and desired position into the slots and from the top of the holder; the arrangement of the slots at right angles with the edges of the holder and with each other and upon the point system of measurement, which facilitates the adjustment of the plate or plates thereon while being upon the bed of a printing-press; in the pinion and hand rackbar mechanism, which facilitates the accurate adjustment of the plates and their rapid release from the holder when desired, and in the detachable frame, which permits of the sections of the holder being quickly and effectively looked up together. The close proximity of the slots with each other and the narrow dimensions of the slots admit of securing the plates on the holder with the smallest margin required for book and job printing. The holder will stand any ordinary pressure incidental to printing the plates thereon without any damage to the plates or the necessity of using supports. The clamp-tumbler is longer than the width of the slots so that the operation of the clampscrew mechanism cannot throw the tumbler out of alinement with the slot while passing a transverse slot during the manipulation of the clamp-screw. The end'of the screw is riveted over in practice to prevent the tumbler or clamp from being unscrewed or separated therefrom, and the lower portion of the clamp projects under the upper projecting' portion of the tumbler to prevent the latter from being separated from the clamp. The head journal-block of the screw takes the longitudinal thrust of the hand rack-bar in the act of manipulating the screw by coming in contact withthe sides of'the slot. The

' slots are arranged in the holder in sucha manner as to bring the contiguous slots of ad joining sections the same distance from each other as the other slots in the sections are from each other. This arrangement provides broad surfaces on the edges of the sections when brought together in uniting two or more of them as a larger section and also gives the widest dimension of section obtainable to take the end thrust of oppositelyacting clamp-screws and for the use of theside and end stops, respectively. The a'rrangement of the slots upon the point system of measurement results in giving a printer an accurate guide, so he can make up the margin of a book without the aid of a rule when he knows the width of a plate.

The device is especially advantageous for photoengravers and electrotypers, as the height of the holder may be increased so that together with the thickness of original engraved plate it will be type-high, thus obviating the necessity of blocking the plate on wood or metal.

Sometimes in printingsay a book, for instancethe back margin of the book may be very narrow and it may be found desirable not to disturb the position of the clamps between the two contiguous plates,

as shown at B B in Fig. 1, and yet it may be necessary to move or adjust the outer opposite clamps securing said plates, or even the plates themselves. In such a case the clamps to be left undisturbed are first set in the proper position and then the plates are laid upon the holder over the pinions of the clampscrews, thus covering them up, as seen in Fig. 2, and rendering it impossible to disturb the position of the clamps by accident or otherwise until the plates are again removed.

This is one of the advantages of this'form of clamp construction and so far as I know is exclusive to this invention. This feature also shows the exceedingly close or narrow margin that can be obtained by the aid of my improved clamps for any purposes where such a narrow margin may be required.

In the drawings the plate-holder is shown as being adapted for use on a fiat-bed printing-press but it can be understood that when the plates are to be printed from a curved support, such as the cynlider of a printing construction, as indicated in Fig. 12, and without departing from the principle of construction involved in this invention. In such a case the principle of curvature as applied to the holder can be so extended as to admit of the holder forming the entire outer portion of the cylinder or to comprise of such sections of the same as may be desired. In this way the holder can be made in the form of a complete cylinder and substituted for a plain cylinder of a rotary printingpress, such as a web-press or the like.

In United States Letters Patent No. 750,395, granted to me January 26, 1904, for a similar invention, as already referred to, the side slots in the clamp-slots of the holder were shown as small, narrow, and rectangular in cross-section and the tumbler device was made T-shaped in section to correspond with and fit into said slots. That construction' of the parts left a resting-place for dust or the like on the under surface of the slots and necessitated an expensive method of manufacturing the tumblers and holders. In this application wide side half-dovetail grooves are substituted for the narrow slots shown in my former application, and the tumblers are made of plain rectangular section accordingly, thus obviating those objections.

It can thus be seen that I provide a complete device for the purposes intended and which can be understood without further description.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A printing-plate holder having a serie of clamp-slotsand each slot corresponding in width at the surface of the plate-holder and at the base of the slot, and intermediately and oppositely undercut and shouldered with downward converging walls from the undercut portions 2. A printing-plate holder having a series of clamp-slots therein, and each slot having opposite parallel walls immediately below the surface of the plate-holder that are undercut and shouldered and inclined walls from the limits of the undercut portions that converge downward toward the bottom of the slot. v

3. A clamp device or a printing-plate holder, consisting of the clamp, U, having the threaded portion, 0 the tumbler, E, threaded and its upper surface having the grooves, E E the screw, D, connecting the clamp and tumbler together, and provided with the pinion-head, D, the washer, F, and the journal-box, F, and all combined, substantially as specified.

4. The combination with a clamp for a printing-plate holder, of the tumbler, E, having the grooves, E E in its upper surface and being connected with the clamp mech anism, substantially as specified.

ICC

5. The clamp device for a printing-plate holder having clam -slots therein consisting of a pair of clamps, the screw, D, having right-hand and left-hand threaded sections which are fitted to the clamps that are correspondingly threaded, one for each section and the screw being provided with means for its rotation and j ournaling in said slots, and the tumbler device, E, fitted to the screw in connection with each of the clamps, and all combined, substantially as specified.

6. In combination with a curved printingplate holder, a clamp device provided with a lateral adjusting-screw and tumbler mechanism, the head of the screw and the edge of the tumbler being curved to make them operative in the slots in the holder, substantially as specified.

7. A clamp device for a curved printingplate holder having slots therein having a clamp with its under surface convex, a tumbler with its upper surface convex and its adjusting-screw having the under portion of its pinion and the outer portion of its washer convex, and all combined, substantially as specified.

8. A printing-plate holder having a series of clamp -slots therein each one pica wide and each slot having opposite parallel walls immediately below the surface of the plateholder that are undercut and shouldered and inclined walls from the limits of the undercut portions that converge downward toward the bottom of the slot.

9. A printing-plate holder having a series of clamp-slots therein and each slot having opposite parallel walls for an appreciable distance below the surface of the plate-holder that are undercut and shouldered, and inclined walls from the limits of the undercut portions that converge downward toward the bottom of the slot.

10. A printin -plate holder having a series of clamp-slots therein and each slot having opposite parallel walls for an appreciable distance below the surface of the plate-holder that are undercut and shouldered and also opposite parallel walls at the bottom of the slot which agree in width with the aforesaid walls, and intermediate inclined walls from the limits of the undercut portions that conver 'e downward to conjunction with the paralle walls at the bottom of the slot.

11. A printing-plate holder having a series or clamp slots therein and each slot having opposite parallel walls for an appreciable distance below the surface of the plate-holder that are undercut and shouldered, the groove being of V form below the limits of the undercut shouldered portion.

12. A printing-plate holder having a series of clamp-slots and each slot corresponding in width at the surface of the plate-holder and at the base of the slot and intermediately and oppositely undercut and shouldered with downward-converging walls from the under cut portions, and a clamp device adapted to fit down into the groove and having a revoluble screw stem and swinging tumbler threaded upon and longitudinally movable by said screw-stem, said tumbler having substantially parallel side walls and an upper edge adapted to pass beneath either undercut and shouldered portion with one side wall in close proximity with one converging wall of the plate-holder. r

13. A printingplate holder having parallel series of clamp-slots at right angles to and intersecting one another, and each slot corresponding in width at the surface of the plate-holder and at the base of the slot, and intermediately and oppositely undercut and shouldered with downward-converging walls from the undercut portions.

14. A printingplate holder having parallel series of clamp-slots at right angles to and intersecting one another each one pica wide, with the intervening squares of the plate-holder each three picas wide, and each slot having opposite parallel walls for an appreciable distance below the surface of the plate-holder that are undercut and shouldered, and inclined walls from the limits of the undercut portions that converge downward toward the bottom of the slot.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 27th day of October, A. D. 1903.

CHARLES F. ROCKSTROH.

VVitnesses:

A. S. MORGAN, J. T. IRVINE. 

